It feels like the company is still working through covid issues. I have had multiple folks who were working with me disappear from the company without even an email notice and at first was told "Emma is no longer working on your trip" and then later it was Emma herself who told me "Aaron is no longer with the company" as well as two other people who were helping me. I realize my trip was originally planned for 2020 and had been pushed back, but the lack of communication was really unnerving, especially since we had various issues with folks needing refunds, etc, and new people signing up as the trip kept changing - I really never felt like I had a single point person who had us in good hands. There were no reminder emails to me as the organizer the way I often had with EF, and I struggled to get my questions answered regularly. When I communicated serious concern about a ONE HOUR layover in NEWARK during which time we would have to take a shuttle to the international terminal, I was told it would be fine. I am a seasoned traveler and knew it would absolutely not be fine, but every time I mentioned it I was pushed back. Of course, our flight WAS delayed and we would have missed our connection to London (as I anticipated would happen), and I had to do the work on the ground to remedy the situation. Our actual flight ended up ultimately being canceled and I booked us a different flight on a different airline, but I really couldn't believe that when I reached out to the emergency line they just told me to figure it out myself (when all along I knew there would be a problem!). Of course, our bags didn't make it onto the new flight and half of us were without luggage for the first half of the trip, which was a living nightmare, and again, I had to deal with all of that on the ground with no help or support from Explorica. The moment I booked our new flight to London I called the emergency line and let them know our new details so they'd have maximum time to set up our ground transportation, but of course they did not do that and we waited for hours sitting on the floor of Heathrow waiting for a ride after an overnight flight. We hadn't even begun our tour and we were all totally exhausted and upset - and missing our bags. I eventually called and demanded that they get us ubers to the hotel and they finally did, but didn't tell our tour guide that they had done that so he was rushing to the airport to get us for no reason - we were already on Ubers headed to the hotel! The communication with Explorica has by far been the worse I've ever experienced, which is incredibly ironic because one of the reasons I left EF to try Explorica this time was that my cousin (who also teaches AP Literature) told me that she had good experiences with their customer service. When we got to BOTH hotels, our rooms were significantly messed up. All of our kids were placed with kids from other tours (not just one or two out of necessity) and the triples that were offered were actually a rickety pull out couch and a small double bed (NOT a queen and a twin as was explained to us). The kids families did NOT pay for a horrible pull out twin-sized frame with thin mattress and really deserve some compensation honestly. I was able to fix this in one case at the first hotel, but not in the second case in France. Both hotels were especially bad at answering the phone (we called endlessly to check if our bags had arrived and noone answered either my calls or the tour guide's calls). The other thing that really stood out to me this time was the way in which the tour seemed disorganized. In the past with EF, I have always entered the Louvre, for example, through the special group tour entrance with no wait. Same with the Tower of London - never any wait and a private tour. I was honestly shocked when we had to wait with every other individual in a LONG line for these sites and others rather than having pre-arranged group entrances and tours. I was very bummed we didn't have the Tower of London tour especially and just had to wander around on our own - the kids missed out on very valuable education there and I felt it was absolute misrepresentation on Explorica's part. I have checked and EF is not doing it this way now, so there is no reason (covid or otherwise) that Explorica would say we are touring the Tower of London when actually we don't have a Beefeater tour and are just wandering around. The other thing that I missed from my tours with EF was the way in which the tour guide really educated us along the way and also helped tremendously with booking activities or show tickets during free time. Our guide was EXTREMELY nice, but his voice was so quiet that you couldn't hear him unless you were right up next to him (he needed a microphone badly) and it seems clear that the guides aren't educators as I am used to. I will never travel with Explorica again.

Local guides were great, most properties and experiences were great. The administrative planning and follow through from Explorica was not.

The tour to Japan was a great learning experience for students and chaperones alike. We visited the major cultural and historical sites such as Himeji Castle and Hiroshima Memorial. We were introduced to Japanese culture and society: the food and the traditional Japanese Inn (Ryokan), Japanese order, courtesy, and sense of social responsibility. There were two negative issues: 1. the tour guide had not received the extensive forms Explorica required us to fill out on food allergies. In the beginning we had no arrangements made for students with severe food allergies. 2. very inconvenient flight arrangements to and particularly from Japan.

Explorica's prices are high and services are not 100% good. We spent 10 days in Italy and we had problems everyday. Explorica booked hotels outside the cities we visited in Italy. The hotels were in the middle of nowhere (25-30 minutes away). We had not opportunities to take a walk in the cities after 7 PM. The food was another issue, students were hungry several nights, the restaurants didn't serve enough food to feed hungry teenagers. During our last night in Rome, we had problems at the hotel, there were not enough beds for students to sleep!!! Thank you to our Tour Guide in Italy and 2 teachers who know the cities very well we were able to manage and to solve this problems. During our interaction (6 months) with Explorica we had many misunderstandings, some due to lack of communication among staff in the main office in Boston. It took so long for people to respond to emails and to give us appropriate answers to questions parents and guardians had before the trip. We were assigned to 3 different agents but we noticed that they had limited experience on dealing with our worries. Sometimes they were very unhelpful or took too long to respond to our emails.Others they were angry and rude when we talked on the phone. We recommend that you read the cancellation policies before you book a trip with them and make sure you are assigned a good agent who can listen to your concerns or questions.

The tour guides and tour directors are exceptional!! Student safety is a priority and the company is always willing to work with teachers to make the best possible experience for student travelers.

We were a group of 32 traveling from Maine to Paris, Milan, & Rome. When we originally designed our tour, we opted to pay more to fly from Portland, knowing we would probably have a connecting flight from a larger airport but looking to avoid the time and expense of traveling via bus. Explorica let us know a mere six weeks before our departure (when it was conveniently too late for anyone to receive a full refund) that they had been unable to secure a flight from Portland or Logan (presumably because they waited too long and/or were unwilling to pay for the flights they had promised us) and were instead booking us through JFK with a seven-hour bus ride to and from the airport! This meant that we didn't arrive at our hotel in Paris until 5:00 PM on the first day which cost us nearly a whole day of exploring the city. We had to rush through the city on foot in the couple of hours we had before dinner, without having time to visit any of the sites in depth. As mentioned by others in prior reviews, the food at most of the restaurants was ok but not enough and most of our kids bought more food on their own dime after the meals. Two of the dinners were substituted because Explorica made reservations changes; the first was because they scheduled our flight to Milan to occur during the dinner hour - they offered us each $10EU to purchase dinner at the airport, but our fabulous tour director Cristina got everyone $15EU instead, which was better but still equal to a multiple-course, sit-down group meal. The second dinner we missed was because Explorica wanted to book our Vatican visit at a student discount rate, which apparently now requires that we book lunch there as well, so to save money on the entrance fees Explorica made us have a sit-down meal at the Vatican - which was good and quite substantial with multiple courses - but then everyone was tired and full before embarking on an hours-long, in-depth tour of the Vatican - which normally would be awesome but not when you're tired and full from a large lunch! Then the kids were on their own to pay for their own dinner later that day. The first hotel in Paris was ok and had a good breakfast, but the second hotel in Milan - Hotel Lodi - was literally the WORST hotel I've ever stayed at - dirty, old, bedbugs, mold, loud, poor breakfast, and rude staff. The last hotel - Parco de 'Medici in Rome - was fantastic, so that made up for some of the rest. What really made our trip was Cristina - we all had a great time and rolled with the punches, but it was really Cristina that made everything go as well as it did!

If you are looking for a company to travel, Explorica is one of the best. The people that work for them are great and are always there to help you. In Costa Rica, all the activates, hotels and transportations was well done. My students and I fell in Love with Costa Rica. They learned and experienced so much.

Our trip to Costa Rica was marvelous!! Our guide, Rey, was amazing. He knew so much about the local wildlife, geography and history, and he knew everyone locally where we stayed and ate. The bus was luxury level, the lodging was more than adequate, most of the meals were delicious. The activities and excursions were all 5 stars! We did everything on the itinerary and more. There were some small things I wish I had known before departure, like requiring closed-toed shoes in certain places and Tortuguero not being reachable by bus or car. But overall it was a wonderful adventure for the students and the adults as well. I would give most of the credit for the experience "on the ground" to Rey, our guide. If you can book him, Reynier Cascante, DO IT. A smart, funny, energetic, resourceful, amicable person with genuine motivation to make our trip as good as it could be. Some constructive criticism for the company, NOT Rey, and for you planning your trip: The Wyndham hotel in San Jose was not totally organized as far as setting up the rooms for our group. On the last night they had not reserved enough rooms for all of us. Be sure to check ahead. We were not told of the fact that Tortuguero was not reachable except by boat. We had to pack for 2 1/2 days in our day packs and go there by boat. Many travelers did not have packs, but rather totes or nothing. Looking back, we could have brought significantly MORE with us on those boats than we were told. Be sure to include this BIG detail on your itinerary and make sure all travelers have a BIG daypack / backpack for this part of the trip. We were not told that close-toed shoes are required for hiking in the Children's Eternal Forest and for the Zipline there. Some of us had to scramble to find suitable shoes. That's it! Other than those small things, the trip was PERFECT. Everyone had such a great time. We saw so many animals and birds, the food was great, we had just enough free time, and Rey made sure we were never bored. GIVE THAT MAN A RAISE!! Seriously, Rey was over the top as a guide for us.

Throughout the whole trip, it was really good experience in London and Paris. Explorica had it planned it really well, our account manager and tour director were very helpful and understanding. They handled each inquiry/accommodation very well. The only issue/suggestion students and I had was with the Dinners during the whole trip. Dinners were not arranged at good restaurants, food quality was not good, and there wasn't enough food during dinners to fill you up. We all had to buy food again on our own expense after each dinner. Other than that, we had an amazing experience of lifetime. Everyone was very happy with the room sizes at both hotels in London and Paris, both located in good areas, close to transportation.

Our tour director was wonderful. Was not happy about the hotel. Power went out in some of the rooms, and the food was not great. Food was cold, and not well-liked by the students and adults. Poor wifi in the one hotel. Other than the one hotel, everything else was great.